I think it all started when the low oil pressure switch and high water temp. guage was invented.
so engine could be protected,
But now to have "error number????" displayed so have to quit doing work and return to shop where book is kept read the code to find the left turn bulb failed. go back to tractor remove the 2 bolts and wiggle the bulb and all good again. Think gone to far.
Who cares that I never used the turn signal using the bush hog. in a briar patch.
But some top Co. manager had a son just out of college and had to find him a life long job. in the business.
Now maybe a tire presure checker. Some where was mentioned. Yesterday in the rain and before daylight started the tractor went to a large pile of mulch and sand filled bucket and was returning to the corral and front tire slipped off the rim. lifted the front with FWL. removed the lugs rolled to shop put tire back on rim greased the tire rim with the green stop leak and poured 1/2 bottle in tire and then aired it up.put back on the tractor. in the afternoon the pressure has held steady. Just maybe would like to of been warned ahead of the flat.
Also use a paint stick for 5 gal.bucket of paint as my reliable fuel level guage. remove fuel cap stick into the tank have marked how many gal. the real level is. CtrlAlt Del some times refered to as Kludge.it.
ken
I think pilots are still on the hook for verifying fuel tanks. Learned that at a young age - An Air Canada pilot landed a plane on a dragstrip - we converted to metric at the time, and the ground crew mixed up gallons and litres, so the captain (the one responsible) had taken on about 1/4 of the fuel needed.
A measuring stick has reasonable accuracy, and a low failure rate. That's what they still use at gas stations, for many of the same reasons.
Like Thoreau said - Simplify (x3).
I've had an oil pressure sensor fail on a car - glad the engine 'puter wasn't "smart" enough to shut down - would have been a long walk.
Agreed, TPMS are one of the few recent consumer technologies that I find meaningful. Obvious safety issue there, even with slow moving equipment there are bad spots to slip a tire off a rim (sidehill, loaded FEL in the air....). Some TP sensor designs are better than others - a few you can replace a leaking valve stem on it's own, others you are $100+ a whack just to fix a leaky valve stem.
Some people start ignoring them when the tires are rotated, and the sensors aren't reprogrammed. Indicates wrong position, on systems that report location.
Picked up my first travel trailer last year, will likely get a good aftermarket TPMS for that once the budget allows. Peace of mind on a long trip.
That said, the same people that drive a vehicle till it literally grinds to a halt will be driving with 3psi reading on the in cab TPMS display.
Turn signal - hadn't heard that one b4 on off-road equipment. Lawyer driven I expect, that way the equipment OEM is covered for a road accident (not joking).
Caught up with an old school buddy of mine a few years back - he works as an Ag Engineer. Talking tech nonsense with him - he was talking about a friends newest mega tractor. Turns out they spent half the time on the phone that summer trying to program it. They were calling their 13 y/o son who was away at camp - he was the only one who could figure it out !
Treating a $500k piece of equipment as a GameBoy maybe is the right approach, but would scare the heck out of me if I was the one who paid for it !
Rgds, D.